A plan to build a hydro-electric scheme in the Brandon area of west Kerry has been turned down by Kerry County Council.
It is the second time the UK-based company, Ingleby 451 Ltd, has applied to build the small hydro 'run of the river' scheme on the Owennafeana River in the Sliabh Glas area of Brandon.
Initially, the council granted permission for the Brandon scheme, to the "amazement" of local bodies, at a Bord Pleanála oral hearing in Tralee.
There were plenty of other rivers, including polluted rivers, that could be used to supply it, the hearing heard from appellants to the board.
Even though the scheme would supply enough electricity for 2,000 homes, there was strong local opposition and also protests from anglers, botanists, wildlife experts and heritage bodies.
The company, based in Somerset, withdrew the application during the oral hearing last October.
They lodged a revised application, accompanied by an environmental impact statement, with Kerry County Council last May.
There were several objections, including from An Taisce, Irish Peatlands Conservation, residents organisations, and a third party.
The South Western Regional Fisheries Board also had issues with the environmental impact statement supplied by the company as part of their application.
Planners in Kerry this time turned down the scheme based on stability of site and visual reasons.
The company can now appeal to An Bord Pleanála.
The area is a rare blanket bog habitat and is part of the Mount Brandon Special Area of Conservation. It has several other designations, including Secondary Amenity Area and National Heritage Area. It is of high ecological value, with no fewer than six habitats listed on Annex 11 of the EU habitats directive.
These include rhyncosporion, the food plant of the white and green-fronted goose, the Killarney Fern and Cornish Moneywort. Fresh water pearl and several listed birds were also present.
Anglers feared the scheme would interfere with what was an important river for sea trout, brown trout, salmon and eels, already an endangered species.
An Taisce and blanket bog experts feared pipeline work and the use of machinery to construct the scheme would destroy the delicate blanket bog and leave deep tracks. Blanket bog would be impossible to re-instate, they said.
Mr Jerome Dowling, honorary secretary of FISSTA, (Federation of Irish Salmon and Sea Trout Anglers) welcomed the decision.